Independent newsrooms expose abuses of power in Lebanon’s hostile media environment

Lebanon has been grappling with crisis after crisis in recent years: a financial collapse beginning in 2019 that destroyed the value of the Lebanese pound; a catastrophic port explosion in 2020; and a continuous Israeli military offensive that has displaced over a million people. In the ongoing regional conflict, Lebanon’s civilian population has borne a heavy toll in terms of loss of life, infrastructure damage, and disruption to essential services.

Against this backdrop, Lebanon's independent media outlets are covering an extraordinarily complex set of events and power dynamics, while also fighting to survive within them. News outlets face escalating political pressure, legal harassment, and coordinated defamation campaigns designed to undermine their credibility, and to silence critical voices.

And yet, media outlets have held their ground— managing to expand their audiences, increase content production and improve their financial resilience despite the significant headwinds. Access to flexible grant support has been an important factor in strengthening their financial resilience giving the media outlets time and resources to innovate, to pursue in-depth investigations that engage audiences, and to resist external pressure aimed at stifling coverage.  

The International Fund launched grants to support two of Lebanon's leading independent media organisations beginning with two-year grants to Daraj in 2023, and Megaphone in 2024. Based in Beirut, the news outlets primarily serve Arabic-speaking audiences while also publishing content in English. Through their digital platforms, they have built audiences that extend well beyond Lebanon, reaching readers and viewers across the Arab world, the wider Arabic-speaking diaspora, and global audiences seeking independent reporting on the region.

Founded in 2017, Megaphone produces investigative journalism, explainer videos,and current affairs coverage in formats built for social media and digital platforms. Throughout 2025, Megaphone’s journalism advanced public accountability across key financial, governmental, and public resource areas. By publishing leaked parliamentary excerpts, the media outlet exposed efforts to obstruct the lifting of bank secrecy, and tracked banking sector actions that sought to derail financial reforms. Megaphone also uncovered irregular fuel procurement in the electricity sector, and conflict of interest in the telecommunications sector, helping turn hitherto closed-door governance into a matter of public debate.

_{video explainer story published by Megaphone in April, 2026}

With a team of 28 full-time staff, Megaphone published more than 3,400 pieces of content in 2025 alone. The newsroom’s prolific output is remarkable for an outlet operating under relentlessly difficult conditions; it also reflects the public demand for trustworthy information. With an increase in Megaphone’s high-quality content fuelling engagement, the outlet’s audience data shows almost 25% new followers in the course of 2025, reaching a high of more than one million as of mid-2026. Megaphone’s tracking data shows that content pieces have attracted an average of 30 to 40 million views per month, signalling trust in the news outlet as a credible and trusted source.

More recently, Megaphone played a crucial role in turning a local environmental concern in Amchit, Lebanon, into a national issue. When grassroots climate justice advocates alerted Megaphone about illegal construction threatening a rare sea cave, home to the endangered Mediterranean monk seal, the outlet amplified their voices and brought the story to the forefront of public debate.

This spotlight helped generate public pressure that led local authorities to issue multiple stop-work orders against the illegal construction. While the threat remains, Megaphone continues to keep the issue visible, pushing for ongoing action to protect Lebanon’s precious natural and cultural heritage. Megaphone’s efforts highlight how strong grassroots activism, supported by effective media amplification, can influence authorities and inspire wider commitment to safeguarding endangered species and fragile environments.

Daraj was the International Fund’s first grantee in Lebanon, an independent, women-led digital media platform which received grant support from 2023 through late 2025. Founded in 2017, Daraj was launched by experienced journalists who were committed to providing Arabic speakers with journalism free from the political influence and funding that dominates mainstream Arabmedia. Since then, the outlet has grown an audience that reaches hundreds of thousands of monthly readers across the Arab world and beyond by prioritising factual, professional and ethical reporting.

Daraj publishes investigative pieces, op-eds, and feature stories in diverse formats including text, graphic and audiovisual content, and focuses on under-reported issues, such as women's and minorities' rights, environmental and climate challenges, freedom of belief, expression, and gender identity. Daraj also promotes partnerships with like-minded organizations to expand its impact, and together with Megaphone, has investigated financial mismanagement, money laundering, and corruption in Lebanon's banking sector since the 2019 economic collapse.

Since 2025, Daraj has adopted a “video-first” strategy to expand reach and engagement, producing short explanatory videos that simplify complex political, financial, and human rights issues. The outlet has also strengthened its bilingual approach, increasing Arabic–English content to broaden accessibility and audience reach. In parallel, Daraj has introduced new digital tools, including an impact tracking system that enables newsroom staff to monitor audience engagement and the spread of narratives in real time. This has improved the team’s ability to make rapid editorial decisions in response to disinformation, algorithmic suppression, and coordinated smear campaigns.

To cover regional events beyond Lebanon, Daraj also recruited correspondents based in Syria, Gaza, and the West Bank in Palestine, to offer local coverage that explains rapidly evolving contexts, and serving wider regional audiences. Like Megaphone, Daraj saw significant audience growth, increasing its number of followers and subscribers by more than 13%.

Notably, following the end of the Assad regime, Daraj’s extensive reporting on events in Syria and ability to rapidly scale up coverage led to a 46% increase in its Syrian audience, signalling the value that people place on quality,independent coverage.

“In a moment when  facts are under global attack and freedom of expression is being  systematically constrained, independent media have become frontline actors in a worldwide struggle over truth and memory. When official  institutions have collapsed and accountability is absent, independent media are often the only mechanism capable of exposing wrongdoing and  reconstructing facts. Without the work of Daraj and other independent voices,  impunity becomes permanent.”
–  Diana Moukalled, Newsroom Manager and Co-Founder of Daraj Media

Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, both Megaphone and Darajare prepared to deepen their impact and resilience amid Lebanon’s challenging media landscape. Megaphone plans to further invest in investigative journalism and diversify its digital content formats, including interactive storytelling and podcasts, to engage younger audiences and expand regional reach. Megaphone also aims to strengthen collaborations with regional and international media partners to amplify cross-border investigative projects.

Both outlets are exploring opportunities for sustainable business models to reduce dependency on grants, including membership programs and digital advertising innovations, ensuring long-term editorial independence.